JORDANNE Whiley believes a different approach to tennis is paying dividends.

The 26-year-old only returned to international competition in February following the birth of her son, Jackson, last year.

But Whiley, who lives in Steventon, has enjoyed a stellar 2019, winning 27 of her 30 singles matches to climb to tenth in the UNIQLO Wheelchair Tour rankings.

The results have taken the former World No 3 by surprise, but she puts it down to a change of mindset.

“I planned to be in the top ten by about August time, so it’s happened a lot quicker than I thought,” said Whiley, who just missed out on qualifying for the French Open this week.

“I didn’t expect to be doing what I’m doing now. I think I’m just in a different place.

“I was obviously not a mum before and tennis was my life, now I’ve got something else going on.”

“A tennis match is just a match now, obviously I still care and want to be the best, but it’s not as big a loss if I lose.”

The ten-time grand slam champion, who beat World No 3 Aniek Van Koot earlier this year, heads to Paris next week for the BNP Paribas Open de France and is looking forward to testing herself against the best.

Whiley said: “The No 1 and 2 are a slightly different level.

“Hopefully I will get a chance to play them, so we will see where I’m at.”